HoC appeals order to reveal MP expenses

The House of Commons (HoC)Commission,
chaired by the speaker Michael Martin, has launched a High Court challenge to
block an order from a special tribunal to reveal details of 15 senior MPs’
expenses.

The special tribunal had ordered the commission to make public how current or
former MPs, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Sir Menzies
Campbell and George Galloway, spent allowances to finance their lifestyle, theEvening Standard reports.

But the commission yesterday sought to appeal the ruling in High Court to
avoid revealing the MPs’ second home addresses, an action condemned by action
groups after the Commons had already spent more than £52,000 to keep secret
details of MPs’ travel and second home claims.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of theTaxPayers’
Alliance, said the MPs were ‘just putting off the inevitable and in the
process they are wasting thousands of pounds’.